Filmmaker Michael Bay is keeping busy on TV as well as in film. Hot on the heels of the announcement that his Starz' series "Black Sails" will premiere in in January, TNT on Tuesday announced it has ordered 10 episodes of "The Last Ship" from Bay.

The "Transformers" movies' director/producer will exec produce both "The Last Ship" and "Black Sails." While the latter series is about pirates, "The Last Ship" follows seamen of a different kind. Based on William Brinkley's popular novel, the series is set on the Navy destroyer U.S.S. Nathan James, which has managed to avoid a global pandemic while on a long-term sea mission. After learning about the disaster that has destroyed most of the world's population, the crew and its captain must confront the reality of their new existence and race to find a cure.

"'The Last Ship' has all the elements of a big Hollywood blockbuster, from its epic storytelling to its top-notch cast headed by the perfect leading man, Eric Dane," said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). "Michael Bay and his fellow executive producers have shaped William Brinkley's story and characters into an exceptional drama full of action, suspense, tragedy and triumph. 'The Last Ship' is smart, fun television that takes you on a great ride."

"The Last Ship" stars Eric Dane ("Grey's Anatomy") as Tom Chandler, captain of the Nathan James, and Rhona Mitra ("Strike Back") as Rachel Scott, a paleomicrobiologist assigned to the Nathan James to investigate the cause of billions of deaths worldwide. Adam Baldwin ("Chuck") is Slattery, the ship's second-in-command, and Tracy Middendorf ("Boardwalk Empire") plays Darien Chandler, the captain's wife.

Bay's Platinum Dunes and its partners, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, serve as executive producers, along with showrunner Hank Steinberg ("Without a Trace") and Steven Kane ("The Closer"). Steinberg and Kane wrote the series pilot, which was directed by Jonathan Mostow ("U-571").

The Seattle CEO who raised salaries for all of his employees to a minimum of $70,000 a year, drawing accusations of socialism, now says he has fallen on hard times, the Washington Times reported Saturday.